Learning the Truth
by ChildDevil04
Summary: Kim has a secret. How will Tommy react when he learns of it, 10 years after the fact? Set postDT.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Okay I really only do this once, mostly because I only remember to do it once, but also because everybody reads the first chapter so why do it more then once? Anyway I do not own the Power Rangers, Disney has that pleasure. I also mention Disney in this story at some point, well I don't own them either. Obviously since I don't own the Power Rangers and the Power Rangers are owned by Disney.

A/N: This story is going to be told in first person point of view from the view of Kimberly. Anyway read, enjoy, review! Oh and it is finished already though I haven't decided on a posting schedule yet. Any input into that is appreciated and taken under advisement. This is not a long story, it totals out at this prologue and 5 chapters, just to give you a heads up.

The one person you never forget is your first love. You may forget your best friend from kindergarten, unless you stay friends with them forever, which is rare. And you may not remember everything about the kid next door. But you never forget a single thing about your first love, no matter how hard you may try, no matter how bad your memory is, no matter whom you find later in life you will always remember your first love.

Sometimes your first love is your only love. You meet, fall in love and stay together forever. But this doesn't happen that frequently. Sometimes your first love is your final love as well but there are others in between. For some reason you and your love split up, see other people and at some point realize that you're better together. And sometimes your first love is merely a memory and not the person you spend your life with.

There was a time when I thought Tommy would be the first of these, that he would be my only love. But then I left to train for the Pan Globals. In Florida I met Alex and I was so lonely without Tommy that he filled a hole in my life. So I sent Tommy a Dear John. Definitely not my brightest move. But at the time it seemed right. It killed me to do it but I knew if I was finding people to fill the hole caused by our separation then Tommy would to and I wanted to free him to explore those connections.

The funny thing is Alex and I only went out for a few weeks before we broke up. He wasn't a fan of me keeping my big secret a secret from Tommy. But I knew he would flip if he found out and well, I'd freed him, it wasn't his problem. Plus he was starting something with Kat. I couldn't ruin that. I was going to tell him, really I was, but then Murianthias happened. When he took his helmet off to try to get through to me I knew he still loved me and I was determined to share with him my big secret but then he spent all his time after we got back wrapped up in Kat and I couldn't do it.

Jason found out my secret about a year later and he too urged me to share it but now I was terrified about what would happen if I did. It had been so long. How could I tell him so late what had happened because of our one night together? How could I tell him about Amanda and Taylor so late after the fact? And while he wasn't with Kat anymore now he was in college, he was doing something with his life. I couldn't add the burden of twins he'd never known to his heavy academic workload and already strained finances. Jason, of course, disagreed but I prevailed. For a time anyway.

After Tommy earned his Ph.D. in Paleontology, imagine that, my Tommy was now Dr. Thomas Oliver who'd thought it would happen, Jason urged me, again, to tell him about the twins. Before I could get my courage together to tell him I found out he was a Ranger again. Even Jason agreed with my decision to postpone telling him this time. Neither of us wanted Amanda or Taylor caught up in Tommy's fight with Mesogog. We'd been Rangers so we were well aware of the danger anyone who made us vulnerable was in. And we didn't think Tommy needed any distractions from training his new team to save the world. And they did, as we knew they would. After all, they had Tommy Oliver, one of the greatest Rangers to ever wear a morpher on their team. They couldn't help but win with him on the team.

After Mesogog was defeated Jason, who'd been living with us for years, insisted we move to Reefside. He was tired of my excuses, and to be honest so was I, and he'd decided the time had come for action. Reefside is not a large town. We'd run into Tommy eventually. And even if we avoided him for the next couple of years when the girls started high school he'd figure it out then. Taylor especially looked just like him and I'd given them their fathers last name. And given them names I knew Tommy's always wanted to give his kids. So basically the move to Reefside started the countdown. The question was, how long did I have?


	2. Chapter 1

Jason had scouted out Reefside while he was there purchasing us a house and he discovered that while it had a teen hangout in Hayley's Cyberspace Café it had neither a dojo nor a gymnastics center. This led to the creation of his grand idea: the T-Rex Martial Arts Studio and the Crane Gymnastics Center, to be housed in the same building. I, of course, asked if he was trying to make it any more obvious to Tommy that we were in town but he shrugged it off and could not be dissuaded.

This is what led to me standing on a ladder outside a storefront on a blustery November day cleaning a window I was sure hadn't been cleaned in years if not decades. I probably shouldn't have been out on rickety ladder on such a windy day but common sense was never my strong suit. Anyway, as I leaned precariously balanced trying to get out a particularly stubborn spot on the glass a very strong gust of wind came rushing up the street and threatened to upend me given that I was balanced mainly through pure luck in the first place. Before I could land on my head a pair of strong arms literally plucked me off the ladder that was rapidly falling and brought me up against a hard masculine chest. A chest covered in a red t-shirt. I experienced a brief moment of panic that I was about to meet Tommy in such a situation after so many years before I realized that there was no way this was Tommy. His scent was totally wrong. Not his cologne because that was the same as the one Tommy had used since I gave him a bottle one year for his birthday, but his underlying scent was different. The rush of relief weakened my knees a bit but I quickly regained my sense of equilibrium.

"Thank you" I said gratefully as I stepped out of the circle of his arms. I was silent for a moment as I gave him a quick once over but my mind was shrieking that it was really unfair that I be rescued while looking terrible by such a good looking guy even if he was much to young for me. While I quietly studied him he leaned down and retrieved the ladder. He frowned as he leaned it against the wall horizontally so it wouldn't crush some poor passer-by.

"That thing is really unsafe," he said. "I wouldn't use it if I was you. Do you want to borrow a safer one? I know where I can get one."

Lord he reminded me of Jason for a second there, chastising and then offering help all in an "I'm the leader and you will listen to me" tone of voice. While I was thinking about how he reminded me of Jason he raked his left hand through his hair flashing a silver bracelet with a red gem set in it that sat on his wrist. Nodding to myself I decided he was probably Reefside's Red Ranger. He had a Ranger aura about him.

Apparently he took my nod as a sign of agreement to his offer to loan me a ladder and before I could stop him he was on the phone. "Hey Dr. O" he greeted the person on the other end and I blanched. Red Ranger, Dr. O, there was only one person he could possibly be talking to, the one person I wasn't yet willing to see: Tommy. While I was panicking he and Tommy, or the person I was currently assuming to be Tommy, came to some sort of conclusion because the next thing I knew he was addressing me again. "A friend of mine will be here in about 10 minutes with a ladder for you."

"Oh good," I said faintly. "Would you like to come inside and warm up while we wait, maybe get some coffee? I think we've still got some left." I was praying he'd take me up on the offer so I could dump him on Jason and disappear into the bathroom to make myself a bit more presentable. At least the girls weren't here today, that was one less thing to worry about but I was going to have to tell him. Soon.

Fortunately he agreed to come in and get out of the biting wind for a bit. Even more fortunately Jason was leaning against the counter just inside sipping a cup of coffee, apparently taking a break from the drywall work he had been doing.

"Who's this?" he asked curiously.

"My bad, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Conner McKnight." He offered his hand to Jason who took it still eyeing me with confusion.

"Jason Scott and that over there is Kim Hart." I nodded once in recognition of the introduction before disappearing into the bathroom. Outside I could hear Jason asking Conner what was going on and in just a few minutes conversation between the two was flowing smoothly. I tuned them out and gave myself a bit of a pep talk in the mirror. Finally I felt I was as ready as I was likely to get and left to go back to the front room.

When Jason didn't jump to inform me that Conner was the latest Red Ranger or to inform Conner that I was the first Pink Ranger I assumed that they hadn't yet figured it out. Not that that surprised me. A lot of Reds miss things that are right there in front of their faces. Their job is to lead; the Blacks are usually the ones to pick up the obvious stuff, though that did make me wonder about this most recent team.

Just as I was trying to decide whether I ought to tell them who they were talking to there was a knock on the door. Conner was closest and before I could take more then two steps towards it he had the door open and was ushering in a tall guy with a ladder. Before I could gape at the distance he had covered in mere seconds the ladder was down, the shadowing hood tossed back and I was staring into a pair of achingly familiar brown eyes.

"Tommy" I whispered, unable to help myself. In the silence that had gripped the room my whisper was easily heard. He looked at me in confusion for a moment before recognition flared in those beautiful eyes. I was heartened to see that before they assumed an icy mien his eyes shone briefly with hope and joy. He was obviously still angry with me, and to be perfectly honest I don't blame him, but maybe, just maybe he still loved me. Maybe he wouldn't hate me for the secret I'd kept from him. Hey, a girl's allowed to hope, right?

"Kimberly. What are you doing in Reefside?" Well, it was a good thing I wasn't judging my welcome by his voice, which could have frozen a bonfire.

"Jason and I moved here a few weeks ago. We're going to open a martial arts and gymnastics academy here."

"Jase is here?" Real pleasure lit both Tommy's eyes and his voice and I was a bit jealous that I hadn't gotten that, not that I deserved it.

"Yeah man, I'm here." Then I got to watch Tommy and Jason exchange a man hug. I wanted a hug from Tommy, even if it was a man hug, you know the back pounding greeting guys give; anything to feel his arms around me again, even for just a minute. Just because I know I'll never get those things from Tommy again doesn't mean I don't still want them.

I was promptly ignored as Tommy introduced Conner and Jason to each other, he didn't know that had already been done. But his introduction was a bit different since he included the information that one was the original Red Ranger and that the other was the latest. And his introduction led to an abrupt cessation of words from Conner who was apparently in awe of Jason now that he knew his other identity.

Jason immediately started asking Tommy about his other team and I was left to my own devices. I picked up a rag and started cleaning grime off the pieces of the light fixtures we has taken apart. This let me do something constructive and listen to Jase and Tommy's conversation at the same time because I was just as curious as Jason. I dealt fairly well with the news that Tommy had been fossilized and turned invisible, after all weird shit happens to Rangers, but when I head about the coma I couldn't help it, I dropped the fixture I was currently cleaning.

All three of the guys were startled, naturally, and it was a bit amusing to see all of them reach for morphers that no longer work before they realized that it was just me. For some reason this is what reminded Conner that Jason and Tommy had been talking very plainly about Ranger business in front of what he assumed was a civilian. His "Hey Dr. O" interrupted the staring match that had started between Tommy and myself and as Tommy's gaze slid to Conner I breathed a sigh of relief. A girl is just not safe around those eyes. Well, this girl isn't anyway. Those eyes have always held the power to make me want to do anything to see them shine with love and happiness, the way they used to. Before I broke his heart for a relationship that didn't last a month.

Anyway while I was distracted Tommy had apparently informed Conner that I was the first Pink Ranger because he was going on about telling Kira and Ethan and Trent and wouldn't they be so jealous. Since Tommy wasn't flipping I assumed those were the other members of the team and quelled the panic that automatically took over whenever anyone was going to find out my secret. Well, that secret anyway though all of them to be honest. It may have been 10 odd years since I was a Ranger but protecting our identities was still second nature. Angel Grove would still go crazy if their masked heroes were unmasked and frankly none of us wanted the spotlight that would come with it. I'd gotten enough of it competing in the Pan Globals, and Jase had gotten enough of it in the ring; neither of us wanted to think what it would be like if Kim Hart, Pan Global medalist and Jason Scott, prominent martial artist were revealed as the original Pink and Red Rangers. Not to mention the rest of the original team, Zack who was a successful record producer and Aisha who hosted a very popular talk show. And then there was Tommy unmasking him would unmask his new team and they had lives to live, something that wouldn't happen if it got out that they were the Dino Thunder Rangers. Yeah, not something any of us need in our lives.

While I was distracted thinking about the media circus our lives would become if our identities were revealed Jason had disappeared back upstairs to his drywall repairs and Conner had taken the ladder Tommy had brought over outside and was busy cleaning the windows. I would have given a lot to have seen the conversation that got him to do that. Tommy was standing directly in front of me, apparently waiting for me to acknowledge something he'd just said. With a blush I asked him to repeat what ever it was he'd just said and then had to repress a sigh when I found out he wanted to talk.

"You're right, we do need to talk." I led him back into the room that was to be my office, which was by no means complete but was at least furnished. "Take a seat," I indicated while I paced over to lean on my desk. I was not comfortable enough in his presence to sit on the sofa with him and I didn't want to sit behind the desk that seemed too cowardly. Somehow I was only a little surprised when he declined to sit.

"If you're going to stand then I will to." He always had been such a gentleman.

"Whatever." I was silent a long while. Now that the time had come I had no idea what to say to Tommy. "I don't know where to start," I whispered to myself.

"How 'bout at the beginning," Tommy suggested, apparently oblivious to the fact that my comment hadn't been meant for him. "You could start with why, after what we shared at Christmas that year, you sent me a Dear John." Though his voice was controlled I could here the underlying pain, the lingering hurt even after all these year and the anger that was always the result when Tommy got hurt. It surprised me how well I could still read him, even after all these years.

"I sent it because of Alex. Basically after Christmas I was so lonely. I was missing you, and Angel Grove, and you, and the gang, and you and basically everyone and everything. Hell, in a way I missed Rita and her monsters. About a week after I got back to Florida there was a new guy, Alexander Korba. We hit it off right away and he filled the hole that was in my heart from missing you guys, not completely but a lot. Anyway I started thinking about it and for some reason it seemed like a good idea to break up. I was lonely, you were lonely and we weren't going to be together again anytime soon. So I figured if we broke up then maybe we wouldn't be lonely anymore, maybe we'd find other people. So I wrote that letter, which, by the way, I've regretted every day since then. A few days later Alex and I started going out. That only lasted a few weeks though. He just wasn't you. I still loved you. There were other things too but you were a big part of it."

"So instead of talking to me about any of this you broke up with me? Didn't I get any say? I was lonely yes but I never wanted to break up with you!"

"We were barely speaking at that point Tommy. You were so busy fighting that half the time when you called me you fell asleep on the phone; and while I understood what you were doing that doesn't change the facts. What was I supposed to do, start another fight with you when you were trying to recover from fighting monsters?"

"So instead you broke my heart and endangered the whole team?"

"What?"

"Kim, think about if. I was the leader. When you broke my heart it did things to me. And I wasn't the leader I was before. You shattered my confidence and a leader without confidence is a very bad thing."

"You all survived."

"Through sheer dumb luck until I managed to get my head screwed at least part of the way back on. And only because the rest of the team was so damn good. If that had been a newbie team we would have been screwed."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. I was just trying to do what I thought was best for us."

"Then you should have talked to me. We could have talked about it; we could have found another solution. It didn't necessitate us breaking up."

"You criticize this a lot but I didn't see you fighting for us 10 years ago. I didn't see you coming or calling or even writing to me about my decision. You just went with it. If you felt this strongly why didn't you fight for me, for us?"

"I don't know, but I've regretted it every day."

Before I could respond to that astonishing statement I heard Jase call my name. I told him I was in my office and before I could add Tommy was with me he was speaking again. "I'm gonna go pick up the girls. Shall I meet you back at the house? You bring . . ." his voice trailed off when he saw Tommy leaning against the wall, jaw and fists clenched. He shot me a look that seemed to say "whoops, my bad" before fleeing. An angry Green Ranger is something none of us ever wanted to see again, it's very not good, very scary.

Before I could say anything to defuse the situation Conner came running in to find out what had sent the original Red Ranger out the door in such a hurry. He took one look at Tommy's face and blanched. "What did you do to Dr. O?" he asked me, edging over to put himself between me and Tommy.

"I did nothing. Jason spilled the one secret I hadn't had a chance to share."

"What secret made him this mad? He didn't get this mad at me the time I broke a window to his house with my soccer ball. Or the time me and Ethan sorta broke into his house and lab before we knew we were Rangers. Or when Mesogog and Zeltrax destroyed the lab. In short, I've never seen him like this. And that's saying something because I have a tendency to make Dr. O very very mad."

Tommy apparently got bored with our conversation because he entered it at this point, without ever once looking at Conner, no mean feat since Conner was directly in front of me and he was looking straight at me. "Go away McKnight. I'm not going to lay a finger on Kim. I'd never do that, no matter how mad I was."

Conner didn't move so I shoved him. "Listen to him Conner."

"No. I'm staying right here until Dr. O cools off."

"McKnight! I could wipe the floor with you so go away." Tommy switched the steady glare he'd had on me to Conner who didn't move a muscle. Impressive, he must have had some practice.

"You're such a damn Red Conner." I shoved him again. "Tommy won't touch me so go away."

"I'm not worried about his touching you," was Conner's reply, surprising me and Tommy as well I think. "Dr. O can be vicious with his tongue when he's mad and I doubt you did anything to invite what he's prepared to give you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" Tommy and I replied in unison. Conner frowned but continued to stand his ground. At a stalemate we all stood there for a long moment. Tommy couldn't decide whether to glare at me or Conner and so switched between us both. Conner returned Tommy's glare with one of equal strength, a fact that did and did not surprise me; he was a Red even if he was also Tommy's student. And I, well I didn't glare at anyone, I was to busy trying to figure out when my Tommy had acquired this vicious tongue Conner was so worried about.

Finally Tommy got sick of the waiting game, a fact that didn't surprise me because I remembered well his impatient nature. What he said, however, did surprise me. "If you're gonna live in Reefside let me give you some advice. This is a small town and people talk. If you're gonna live with Jason get him to make an honest woman out of you." He stalked to the doorway. "And tell him this is a very low blow."

Before I could respond in anyway he was gone. The slamming of the front door and the subsequent squeal of tires on pavement stood testament to his hurried departure. After a moment Conner turned to me with a raised eyebrow and an expression that reminded me eerily of Jason. It was the "I'm the leader and you will share" expression that was probably a trait of Red's since Tommy did it too. I merely looked at him, a look I'd perfected with Amanda and Taylor that basically sad "you may want to know but I'm not obliged to tell you and won't do so." He may have been a Red but he wasn't my Red so I felt safe in ignoring him as I crossed to the sofa to drop onto it.

He's quick for a Red too, it didn't take him long to realize I had no intention of explaining things to him. He moved over to the door, something I more felt then heard and paused. "Me, Kira, Ethan, Trent and Hayley know best who Dr. O's become. If you need to talk to someone about him I'd try Hayley first and then one of the rest of us. Starting with Kira." He waited for a response for a moment but since none was forthcoming he left as well and I was finally alone. Now I could express my frustration.

"DAMN IT!" I shouted. "Why couldn't he just tell me he was leaving? I would have known why. Did he have to bring up the girls? OF course, things were going to well, something had to really piss Tommy off." Thinking of Tommy reminded me of his parting words and I frowned. "What the hell did he mean by telling me to tell Jason to make me an honest woman, what low blow is he talking about?"

A/N: Just to let you all know, while Conner made an appearance in this chapter and played a kinda important role he will not be important to the story as a whole. In fact, this is the only chapter he shows up in. But that doesn't mean I don't love him. I'm working on a story in which he is the main character so assuming the writers block on that one lifts we can have some Conner goodness later.


	3. Chapter 2

No matter how hard I thought on it I could not come up with any explanations for Tommy's behavior. Eventually I had to get home, my girls would be worried if I didn't get home soon. As attached as they were to Jason, and they very attached to him since he'd been living with us since they were 4, they panicked if I didn't come home. Ever since they'd seen _Annie_ they were terrified of becoming orphans and they knew Jason was their uncle not their daddy and no matter how many times he told them he'd never let them go to an orphanage if something happened to me, for some reason they found it hard to believe him.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprise. Instead of frantic hugs from two worried girls I got a very blasé "hey mom" from both of them before they turned their attention back to the girl in a yellow t-shirt that was sitting with them. I did a double take when I saw what her shirt said: "I'm the Yellow Power Ranger, who are you to talk to me that way?" She paid me a bit more attention then my girls and stood to introduce herself.

"Kira Ford" she said, extending her hand. As she did so I caught a glimpse of a bracelet that looked a lot like Conner's.

"Kim Hart." I took the proffered hand. "Nice shirt. Goes well with the bracelet. You know Conner McKnight?"

"Sadly." She smirked. "I thought the shirt was funny. I found it at this awesome little kiosk at the mall that sells a lot of novelty Power Rangers stuff. Half of Reefside is wearing shirts like this."

I only had time to breath a quick sigh of relief before I was bombarded.

"Mommy I want to buy a Power Rangers shirt! I want a yellow one like Kira. Yellow's the coolest." Amanda was tugging on my right hand for emphasis as she said this.

"And I want a red one! Or black! Red and black rock!" Taylor was jumping up and down but I was having trouble breathing. I'd choked the minute she mentioned black. Tommy had been the Black Ranger; I'd seen his bracelet earlier that day.

"Girls calm down." Kira stepped into the chaos that was my daughters begging for stuff. "Your mom can't answer you if she can't hear herself think."

I shot her a grateful smile before looking down at my precious girls. "I'll think about it. Maybe we'll go to the mall this weekend and check it out." Both girls screamed with delight and ran to tell Jason we were going to the mall this weekend. They knew me well, maybe and the mall in the same sentence was a pretty much guaranteed yes.

Kira looked at me with some akin to pity. "You realize you're going to spend a lot of money of Power Rangers merchandise now, right?"

"Yeah, but whatever. At least you guys didn't have a Pink. That would just be weird."

Her eyes darkened with satisfaction. "I thought so. You were the original Pink weren't you?" I hesitated in answering and she continued. "I helped Dr. O organize some of his stuff while he was stuck in morph and we found a picture of the original team, I don't think the guys have seen it. But I recognized you, form that and the video he made about the history of the Rangers that we found when he was kidnapped by Mesogog." I couldn't help it I stared. "What?"

"He made a video about the history of the Rangers? And left it somewhere a bunch of teens could get a hold of it?"

"Hey" she seemed almost offended before she realized she and the guys had had a similar reaction when the found it. "Yeah, he did, but he did it because, well I don't know why he did it to be honest. I'll have to ask him about that."

"Moving on, he has a picture of our team?"

"Yeah. After we found it in a bunch of stuff he framed it and hung it on the wall of the lab. We put one of our team up next to it when we put the lab back to rights after Mesogog and his cronies destroyed it. I was kind of surprised that the picture of you guys survived but it did, not even a crack in the glass."

"Wow." That was all I could say. He had a picture of the original team up in a place that he spent a lot of time. What did that mean? Was it just up because of the rest of the team or what? Suddenly I realized Kira was talking and started paying attention again.

". . . you want?"

"I'm sorry I was thinking about . . . well memories. What do I want or not want?"

"I was just saying that anytime you and Mr. Scott want to get out of the house I'd be more then happy to baby-sit your girls for you. They seem like sweet kids and I'm sure you guys would like a chance to get away by yourselves for a while."

"By ourselves for a while?" I was a bit confused about why Jason and I would want to go places by ourselves.

"Well sure, my parents always like the opportunity to get out by themselves without any of the kids. I thought maybe you and Mr. Scott might like that opportunity as well."

I was speechless for a moment when I figured out that she thought Jason and I were married, or a couple at the very least, before laughing. "Jase and I aren't together."

"You aren't?" she looked confused.

"No" I shuddered. "He's like my brother. We live together because, well I'm not really sure why. To save money, because it's convenient, its good for the girls to have a male figure around, lots of reasons. But not because we are a couple in any sense of the word."

"Oh." Now she looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I just thought you guys were."

"It's okay. I know a lot of people get that impression but I've never had anyone be so blunt about it." I smiled to let her know all was forgiven. "It's no biggie. So, not to seem rude or anything but what are you doing here?"

"Mr. Scott gave me a lift here so I could call my guardian. My car broke down and the battery on my cell is dead. I was gonna charge it on the way home, but well the car broke down."

"I see. Well, would you like me to give you a ride? That way your guardian doesn't have to come all the way here."

"That would be awesome. He sounded like he's had a bad day so if I could save him the trouble that would be great."

"You go call him and let him know I'll bring you home and I'll go tell Jason where I'm going." I watched Kira move toward the phone for a moment before I left the room. While I was talking to her about Jason and I not being involved in anyway way except a strictly platonic one it had occurred to me that perhaps Tommy had jumped to a similar conclusion. Maybe he thought Jason and I were together and that the girls were Jason's. But he couldn't possibly think that could he? He knew how close Jase and I were, that we regard each other as siblings. "Nah," I decided as I left the room, there's no way that's what he thinks.

I found Jason in the kitchen preparing dinner. When he saw me he got all apologetic again. "I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have said that if I'd known Tommy was still around. What did he do? He looked pissed as hell when I left."

"Yeah, he was pissed as hell. And I still really haven't figured out why. But he gave me a message for you before he left. I'm supposed to tell you to make an honest woman out of me, and that it's a low blow."

Jason apparently had no problems understanding what Tommy meant by this because his face darkened immediately. "Son of a bitch" he muttered. "Sorry," he added when I smacked him and gestured towards the table where the girls sat doing their homework.

"Since you understand this message do you mind telling me what the hell it's all about?"

"Not until I clear up a little misunderstanding."

"Fine, but you will explain it." I saw Kira behind him in the doorway. "But you're gonna have to wait to clear it up 'till I get back. I'm gonna take Kira to her house to save her guardian the trouble of coming out here to get her."

"That's cool. I gotta find out where I'm going first."

"Fine, just keep an eye on the girls too. I'll be back." With a kiss dropped on the heads of each of my babies I left with Kira. "So where are we going?" I asked as Kira and I buckled ourselves into my green Land Rover. I'd almost asked for a specialty paint job to get it done in pink but the cost was rather prohibitive at the time since we were just getting ready to move to Reefside and open a business. Once things pick up I'll get it painted but for now it's better for our pockets if I leave it alone.

"Not too far. We live a couple of miles outside town, but outside this side of town. It's only about 10 minutes from here."

"Why do you live so far outside town?"

"He likes his privacy. And there was a lot of weird shit going on around our place six months ago, it's a good thing we don't have any neighbors."

I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this. "Who is your guardian?"

"Oh, I didn't mention it?" Damn she was good; I almost believed that air of innocence. If it weren't for the mischievous smile she couldn't quite hide she would have had me.

"No, you hadn't mentioned it." The bad feeling was getting worse. I was 99 sure I knew what she was gonna say next.

"Dr. O's my guardian." I had to repress a sigh. I knew she was gonna say that. "My aunt and uncle in Stone Canyon were gonna take me in but I didn't want to go. Plus I was needed here even if most people didn't know it so Dr. O took me in."

"The fact that you live out here in the woods suddenly makes a lot more sense. There any other surprises I ought to know about?"

"He's Ethan's guardian too."

"Ethan?"

"Our Blue. His parents and mine died in the same car crash."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." I felt for her, really I did, my parents had both died within the last few years but at least I was an adult. I reached over and squeezed her hand briefly before putting it back on the wheel, the road out here was in rotten condition and I felt much safer with both hands on the wheel.

"Thanks." Her smile was strained but given our topic I didn't blame her a bit. How do you respond to a statement like that? Of course why do we say I'm sorry in the first place? I guess it's because we don't have anything better to say. I decided to change the direction of the conversation a bit to take her mind off it.

"How did Tommy end up explaining the fact that he was taking in tow of his students?" I was genuinely curious as to how he'd managed life as a Ranger with a full time job, as a teacher of all things and not just a teacher but also a science teacher. How does a forgetful guy like my Tommy get to be a science teacher? "I mean that had to look a bit odd to the good people of Reefside and as Tommy told me today, people talk."

"Basically he said we asked, which is true, and our reason for asking was that we didn't want to move away from Reefside during our senior year of high school. As to him being our specific choice, well he's the only adult we know without kids of his own. And he was teaching us karate, something most of the school knew. So yeah they thought it was odd but we'd been hanging out with Dr. O for months at that point so they didn't think it was to odd."

At this point we pulled up in front of the house behind a black jeep with thin red, white and green stripes running around the body, a jeep that almost certainly belonged to Tommy. With that color scheme I couldn't think of anyone else it could possibly belong to. As I killed the engine Tommy appeared at the front door and I changed my mind about walking her in. "You best get inside, Tommy looks worried. I'll see you later and I'll definitely call you if I need a baby-sitter. There's no one I'd trust more with my kids then a former Ranger."

"Alright." She hopped out of the truck and as I turned around to leave I saw Tommy hug her before starting what looked like a rather impressive lecture.

I had plenty to think about on my drive home. My Tommy had matured in unexpected ways and yet it was not so odd. I would have been surprised if he'd turned Kira and Ethan down when they asked to live with him after their parents died. I know first hand the type of bond that is formed between members of a Ranger team and this team appeared closer then ours had been. Maybe it was because they weren't divided by couples or I dunno what but while we had been a family of best friends these guys had formed a real family. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that Conner and their white, Trent I was assuming, also spent a lot of time at Tommy's house.

Seeing the family Tommy had built for himself made me question what I was doing bringing the girls here but it was to late to back down now, the die's been cast, the cards drawn, the game must go on. It did make me wonder about this Hayley though. Who was she to Tommy? I know she wasn't a Ranger, I'd met the only female on the team but Conner had said that Hayley knew best who Tommy had become. Why would she know him best as opposed tone of the people on his team? As I parked I resolved to answer that question tomorrow. I'd drop by her café and ask if Jase and I could advertise our school there and while I was there I'd ask about Tommy. Somehow I'd find a way to ask how she knew him. Somehow I'd find a way to learn why she was the one who knew him best.

The girls were just starting to clean up after dinner when I came in so I dragged Jason into the living room to share with him what I'd learned, that Tommy had taken in tow of his students who happened to be two of his Rangers. I'm not sure yet how this will affect us, but it will. There's not a doubt in my mind about that.

A/N: Okay the bit about Conner from the last chapter goes for Kira in this chapter. She still has a bit of a role to play but for the most part her work here is done. As is her direct intervention in the story. From this point when she comes in it will be because another character had a conversation with her and is telling Kim about it. Oh, and in case you're curious. The part about him taking in Ethan and Kira doesn't end up playing all that big a role but when I wrote this it was going to be bigger. But my muse who seems to enjoy channeling Tommy went crazy on me and the end is different from what I was expecting.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I know I said I do this once but there are some lyrics in here, I don't own them. I don't know who does because I can't find the bloody song they go to but I know it isn't me. And I know the song is somewhere on my computer but I can't find it. So just know its not me.

Jason was as unsurprised as I to hear that Tommy had taken up the guardianship of Kira and Ethan. He pointed out one thing I'd missed. Tommy is both possessive and protective of those he feels an obligation to. Of course, given those facets of his character, he'd taken them in. His very character demanded it. But Jason had an ulterior motive in remind me of this. If he is that protective of his students how much more so would he be of his own children, flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones? Then he left me to my thoughts while he went to take care of whatever it was he wanted to do.

He was gone quite a while. I helped the girls finish their homework, got them into bed and was settled with some paperwork for the schools when Jason finally returned. I only glanced up when he entered, intending to greet him and return to the paperwork but when I caught sight of him I was out of my seat and by his side in a shot. I urged him towards a seat and when he resisted pushed him.

"Sit your ass down Jason Lee Scott. You're going to let me take care of those cuts and you're going to tell me what in the hell happened to you." I turned to get out the first aid kit we kept in one of the drawers. Over the years we'd discovered that most of our injuries either occurred in or where cared for in the kitchen and we'd begun keeping a fully stocked first aid kit there as well as in all the bathrooms. When I turned around Jason was trying to sneak out of the room but stopped and looked sheepishly over his shoulder when I cleared my throat. I pointed to the chair and he took it again with an air of resignation.

"Fine, have it your way," he muttered.

"Thank you, I shall. Now, tell me what happened. You were in one piece when you left this house and now you look like you caught the wrong side of a fight against one of Rita's monsters."

"Tommy happened." He winced as my hand slipped in my surprise and whacked one of the bruises on his jaw rather forcefully. "We had a heated disagreement about who had the proper and true idea of what happened this afternoon. I don't know how he ever got a Ph.D. the man is dense as a rock sometimes. He's got this idea in his head that I'm Amanda and Taylor's father. He also thinks that you and I are still sleeping together and that we should get married instead of just living together. When I asked if he wanted to be invited to the wedding he punched me."

I stopped paying attention after this, still trying to wrap my mind around what had just been said. Why in the name of God would Tommy think Jason and I were sleeping together? And if he was so concerned about my reputation why would he punch Jason for asking him to the wedding he kept pushing us towards in the first place? Not that there was going to be a wedding. Not between me and Jason anyway. That is just so beyond wrong. I was started out of my thoughts when Jason waved his hand in front of my face. "Yes?" I asked, still distracted.

"Did you hear a word I've said?" He asked impatiently.

"Not since you mentioned that Tommy punched you." I answered truthfully. "I was trying to figure out why he did that."

"Because he can't stand the thought of anyone else marrying you." Jason stated this so matter-of-factly that all I could do was stare.

"And what led you to this brilliant conclusion?" I was very, very skeptical of this claim.

"Kira. I talked to her after Tommy and I had our little tussle. She broke it up, girl's gotta scary scream by the way, and then informed Tommy that you and I were not involved. He calmed down almost instantly, until she mentioned the girls, then he went crazy again. He was ready to try and beat their father's name out of me but Kira stopped him again. I owe that girl one by the way. The evil Green Ranger had nothing on this, absolutely nothing." He shuddered. "Anyway, she told him to go calm down and to try talking to you tomorrow, so be prepared for that, and then she dragged me outside. That's when she proceeded to tell me he's very touchy about you and while they don't know much about you, because you're apparently a taboo subject among the Ranger world in general because Trini and Aisha have told me not to mention you around him only about a million times before. Where was I? Oh yeah, she informed me that because she's a girl there are things she knows that I don't."

"Anyway, she told me about a conversation she overheard one day between Tommy and Hayley, who was the technology guru for the team by the way. She's an MIT graduate and they've apparently been friends for years. Anyway, Hayley was trying to convince Tommy to ask someone out on a date and he was refusing adamantly so she told him he was probably the only Ranger who wasn't and never had been married. He tried to use me as an example but I don't qualify because of that disaster with Kathy and Hayley said as much. So then he apparently brought you up and Hayley pointed out that it was very unlikely that you were still single and that no doubt you had a husband, a house, a dog and 2.5 kids. Kira spent the next hour picking glass out of his hand after he broke the glass he was holding at the time. And avoiding his gaze because it was killing strength. She told me she'd never been so glad to learn of a Tyrannadrone attack and that he pretty much took them all on by himself. So yeah, the idea of you marrying is definitely a sore subject with Tommy."

I was stunned by these revelations and had absolutely no idea what to say. The idea that Tommy could still be seized by such violent emotions when presented with the idea that I was involved with someone else was both confusing and exciting. I had undoubtedly broken his heart, the fact that I was a taboo subject around him stood as proof to this, or at the very least to the fact that I'd really pissed him off. But I was betting on the former and not the latter, he doesn't hold onto anger that long, except against evil. And he had admitted to me just that afternoon that I'd seriously hurt him. But if all this is the case why would he react so strongly to the mere idea that I was married to someone else? Why would he care? And that led to the excitement maybe he still loved me. He'd said he regretted not fighting for us 10 years ago, maybe he still wants me, and maybe we can still be together.

But first I have to tell him the truth; before we can even begin to explore the possibility of resuming or beginning a relationship I have to tell him about Amanda and Taylor. And that's the one thing that scares me. I know how Tommy feels about family. He told me more times then I could count how much we wanted a family. Even though he loved his parents dearly he wanted a biological family. And I, knowing that, had kept his children, the biological family he'd longed for, from him. Even if my Dear John hadn't destroyed his love for me it was entirely possible that this secret I've kept for 10 years might. But I have to do it. And maybe someday he'll understand why I did it.

While I'd been lost in thought Jason had finished cleaning his cuts and such and now sat staring at me waiting for me to talk to him. When I smiled at him, strained to be sure but a smile nonetheless he grinned. "So you're gonna go for it?"

"Go for what?"

"For Tommy. The idiot still loves you, are you gonna fight for him?"

"Maybe. I have to tell him that he's Amanda and Taylor's father first. That bit of knowledge might destroy his love for me. But if, after I tell him, there is even the smallest possibility that I have a shot I'll pursue it. But I'm not gonna rope him into admitting he loves me before I tell him. That's not fair. He deserves to go into this knowing full well what I've kept from him, what I've done to him."

"I agree with you. I think it would do more damage if you waited to tell him then if you tell him now while it's still a heavy question in his mind. Besides I'm pretty sure it'll be one of the first things he asks you tomorrow. I'm positive he'll be mad at first, but I'm also sure that if you tell him he will get over it. It might take a bit but if his love has survived 10 years I'm sure it can survive this. I hope it survives this."

"I hope so too . . . Did you two at least part friends?"

"Well he's pissed because I won't tell him who the father is and because I've known for a while not only exactly where you were but about the girls but I think we're still friends. Or we will be once he's calmed down. He knows that I'm just as loyal to you as I am to him, perhaps more so to you, my lil sis then to him. Plus we're guys, the fact that we fought means nothing. And he did most of the fighting anyway, I pretty much just defended myself."

"So I don't get the pleasure of seeing his bruises too?" I was joking but Jason apparently thought I was serious.

"Well I didn't just defend myself, I got a couple of shots in. After all, he was trying to say I stole his girl. And that's just wrong. He's my best friend, you're my lil sis, I wouldn't betray either of you, which by the way has made these last six years really fuckin' hard, but I definitely wouldn't betray him by dating you. I reminded him of that with a couple of well-placed hits." He gave me an almost feral grin. "He'll feel those tomorrow."

"Great" I drawled, glaring at him. "Not only will he be jumping down my throat about the girls but he'll be snappy and irritated because you've given him painful bruises. How can I ever thank you for that wonderful addition to an already joyful experience my dearest brother?"

He looked a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about that."

"No, I imagine you didn't. You probably didn't care even if you did think of it. But it's okay. I'm used to dealing with snappish from bruises Jason and snappish from bruises Tommy is much the same as I remember so I'll be alright." I ignored his noises of outrage. "Now, go to bed. You have more drywall to play with tomorrow and won't it be fun with all these lovely sunrise bruises? So go get some sleep."

"Good night . . . mom" he danced out of the way of my half-hearted punch.

"Good night goon." He disappeared upstairs and I was left to myself again. Slowly I began to clean up the mess we'd made with the first aid stuff while I thought about what I would say to Tommy the next day. Tons of different scenarios passed through my mind and the reactions varied almost every time. But I wouldn't allow myself to hope that some of the happier ones would be what actually happened. Wonderful as he is I can't see my Tommy brushing off the fact that I hid his kids from him for 10 years and taking us into his home as a family. That's the type of bullshit that only happens in Disney movies. And this is real life, not a movie. In real life people get hurt and life doesn't go the way we wish it might, nor does it go in a way that even begins to approach fair. Maybe one day we'll be able to be a family but it'll take time. "It's gonna take faith, it's gonna take trust, it's gonna take everything we've got even when we know it won't be enough . . ." I sang as I finished tidying up, just that snippet but it said it all. It's gonna take everything we have for Tommy and I to be together again. And I don't know about Tommy but I am willing to give everything to save our relationship, if it can be saved.

I am realistic. It is entirely possible that between the factors of the letter, 10 years, and the twins that any relationship we could have constructed will be shot before it's had a chance to live. It is possible that even if he still feels something for me now in 24 hours when he has learned the full truth he will swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and hate me. And it's possible I'm worried for nothing because everyone's wrong and he already hates me or just doesn't care and will still not care or will hate me even more when he learns the truth.

As I moved through the house turning off lights, making sure doors and windows were locked and all that stuff I was unable to keep myself from thinking about what it would be like to lock-up with Tommy. And as I crawled into my lonely bed he was in my mind again and when I drifted off to sleep he was in my dreams. But all of this was nothing new, I think of him all the time. And I literally mean all of the time. I've thought about him and only him pretty much constantly since the day I whispered to Trini how incredible he was when we saw him sparring at the Youth Center. What was new was the dream itself.

Usually when I dream of Tommy my mind ignored the letter and the itsy-bitsy inconsequential fact that I sorta kinda never really told him I was pregnant. Instead it, my mind that is, seems to pretend that I never left Angel Grove. So Tommy and I marry straight out of high school, he drives racecars and I design cloths and we have a pretty house and kids and basically in my dreams Tommy and I live the American dream. And while parts of these dreams bothered me I never minded them because Tommy and I were together. Although it was a serious issue that Amanda and Taylor were never in these dreams, but then reality in general was never in them. This time, however, reality crashed full force into my dreams with the subtlety of oh a bulldozer.

_Tommy walked into the store with his arm around the waist of one of the most gorgeous women I had ever seen. She was tall, skinny but shapely, with hips, boobs and a butt like something out of a teenage boy's wet dream. Or Barbie. She also had these big blue eyes, full pouty red lips and long blonde hair that was perfectly straight, shone with health and brushed her ass. While I stood there staring at them wearing paint splattered jeans and a t-shirt that had seen better days about 15 years ago she was wearing designer. Everything. Probably her underwear was designer as well. He looked between us at the obvious discrepancies and then introduced this blonde bombshell to me as 'my fiancé, Hayley.' Then he told me that to be honest he didn't care about me or who the father of my children was and that he'd beat up Jason for fun. And because he was frustrated that Hayley wouldn't sleep with him until they were married but now that he'd seen me, a single mother, he had seen the light. Now he respected Hayley for her decision and realized just how much better then me she was. As he turned to leave I told him he was the father but he laughed at me and asked me how I could honestly expect him to believe me since I broke up with him instead of pressing for marriage like any sane, pregnant, unwed woman would. His blonde beauty laughed too and then told me that no one believes a slut about things like paternity. And Tommy let her. He let her call me a slut. And then he laughed at the look of pain on my face._

I woke up with their jeering laughter still ringing in my ears, breathing hard from the pain that their laughter had caused my soul. "He wouldn't do that, not my Tommy." I tried to assure myself, but still it was a very long time before I fell asleep again. After all, he wasn't my Tommy anymore and hadn't been for 10 long years.

A/N: Don't kill me for the interpretation of Hayley. I love Hayley. Just remember, Kim hasn't met her yet, she will in the next chapter. And I promise Hayley will be nothing like that. I couldn't do that to her.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: So sorry this is a day late, I have the cold running around my school, otherwise known as the plague, and spent most of yesterday in bed. Not conducive to going to the computer lab to post this.

When I woke up the next morning the dream was a mere memory that was no where near the front of my mind and so when I pulled on paint splattered jeans and an old t-shirt of Jason's which was covered in paint splotches and oil it didn't bother me. And even if it had bothered me I would have left them on. I was going to be painting today and I'll be damned if I'm gonna wear my good cloths for that just because I had a bad dream.

Since it was another dreary, this time rainy day, Jason used a coffee run as an excuse to stop punishing his bruised body with drywall work and disappeared, presumably to go buy us both a cup or two of coffee but he'd been gone for a while. But coffee is a mutual addiction and passion; he might have gotten caught up by something new. As long as he came back with a tray of different blends I would be okay with him being gone forever. In the meantime I was in the store alone carefully applying red paint as the trim in the room, trying to do so without getting it on my white walls. The radio was on and I was singing along with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw on their new duet "I need you" when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

Old Ranger reflexes die-hard and instead of shrieking like any other girl might I spun around swiftly bringing my hands up into a defensive position. When I saw Tommy and a strange woman standing there I relaxed but only slightly, my dream flashed before my eyes quickly. When I met Tommy's eyes he quirked an eyebrow at my still slightly upraised fists but turned to introduce me to the woman beside him anyway.

"This is Hayley," he said, pointing to her and then he pointed at me, "Hayley this is Kimberly Hart." He paused while we took each other's hands and measures. She didn't look a thing like my dream had portrayed her. She was shorter and a bit plumper but not fat, just well, womanly I guess you could say. Her hair was a gorgeous red brown that could not be achieved from a bottle and her brown eyes looked both curious and friendly, mostly. I caught a hint of anger but if Kira was right then she and Tommy were old friends. She probably knew about the letter and it probably pissed her off. Her cloths were cute but serviceable, immensely suitable to a café owner running around in the rain, and not designer. But most importantly, to me, Tommy's arm was not around her waist. In fact, they weren't touching at all.

Tommy got bored watching us look each other over and started talking again. "Kim, I brought Hayley over because I thought you might talk to her about advertising your schools in her store. Most of the teens in town hang out there so you'd probably pick up a bit of business."

"Awesome. I was gonna come by your café today to talk to you about the possibility of doing just that. And I had another thought as well. Have you thought of expanding?"

"Expanding? Not really, why?"

"Well here's what I was thinking . . ."Tommy stood just watching us with a hint of a smile on his face as I explained to Hayley my idea of putting in a snack counter type are that sold juices, smoothies and healthy food and drinks for the kids who come for our classes. We tossed ideas back and forth for an hour before she caught sight of the time.

"Oh! I have to go! I have to open up the café. Come on over when you finish up here or," she cast a quick look at Tommy, "or come over tomorrow. You know, whenever you get a chance, and we'll talk about this some more. You can try some of my stuff and make sure you like it before we settle on me running the bar here." Within seconds we'd settled that, hugged our goodbyes and she was gone, leaving me alone with Tommy since Jason had yet to return.

A bit nervous, both at being left alone with Tommy and because Jason had been gone for a really long time, I moved to the doorway to see if I could see Jase but neither he nor his red jeep were in sight. I jumped when Tommy's fingers curved gently under my elbow and drew me away from the door and into my office.

"Don't worry about Jase," he said as he pushed me onto one end of the sofa and took the other end for himself. "I told him to go away for awhile. We need to talk and we don't need him, or anyone else for that matter, around while we do so."

"Okay." That made sense; Jason would very easily leave us alone to talk. He'd been trying to get us to do that forever. He'd have no problems whatsoever in abandoning me to my fate.

There was silence for a long moment that Tommy finally broke. "I'm sorry for what I said when I left yesterday. I was hurt, and jealous and angry and I just reacted. You know as well as anyone that when I'm any of those things that what I say and do goes far beyond what I mean to say or do, I just can't help it. Jase sounded so proprietary when he said he'd pick up the girls and they'd meet you at home. I just I couldn't help it. I felt like it was so unfair, you were finally back in my life but you couldn't be mine. You belonged to the one person I thought I could trust, my best friend, and my brother. And what was worse, it was the one person I'd always trusted you with. And right then I couldn't help but think he was the real reason you broke up with me and that you guys had been together for years, all behind my back. I've been thinking since last night" here he rubbed his ribs with a woeful expression on his face, "thinking that Jase forced on me by the way, and well I've realized how stupid those thoughts were."

"Yeah, they were kind of stupid. I really don't get it Tommy. How could you possibly think that? How could you even for one second believe that Amanda and Taylor are Jason's kids? He's like my big brother."

"Look, I know, but damn it to hell Kim, what was I supposed to think? You're living with him, he's picking them up from school, he sounds like a father, so of course I assumed he was their father."

"He's the only father figure they've ever had but he's only Uncle Jason to them. They know he's not their father. But since theirs isn't around he acts like one for them. That's something they desperately need."

"Well isn't their father around? Who the hell is he anyway?"

"He doesn't know about them." I said this very quietly, knowing he'd get mad, but not as mad as he would be when I was done with him.

"What? Why would you keep this a secret from him? The man deserves to know he's a father."

"Because I was afraid. It's so hard to admit to someone that you fucked up and got pregnant. I'm a coward and I'm afraid to tell him the truth."

"If there is one thing I know about you Kimberly it's that you are the farthest thing from a coward. Sure it's probably hard to tell someone something like this but you've got to Kim. If not for his sake then for theirs. Your daughters deserve to get to know their father."

"I know but damn it. You can't tell me what to do."

"That's a childish response because you know full well I'm telling you what you ought to do. I know you Kim, it's probably ripping you up that you haven't come clean with him." It scares me how well Tommy knows me, that he could tell me that when he hasn't seen me in 10 years. When he can look at me and tell me the truth about how I feel in mere moments. "You know what you ought to do but if you do it because I told you to that's fine, so long as you do it."

I took a deep, deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, fine." He looked like he'd won something. "Not because you told me to but because you're right, it is the right thing to do and I've known that since the moment I learned I was pregnant." I took another deep breath and looked straight into his beautiful brown eyes. "You're their father Tommy."

A/N: Okay, I know it's short. But that was the perfect place to end it, you have to admit that. Okay you don't really have to, but it is. I hate cliff-hangers but I really couldn't resist. So tune into chapter 5, the final chapter, to find out how Tommy reacts.


	6. Chapter 5

Once I said the words I felt free, freer then I had felt in a very long time. 10 years to be accurate. Ever since I'd started lugging around this gigantic secret. But now it was out, I'd shared the one thing I never should have hidden in the first place and even if it came back to bite me in the ass I had done it and nothing would steal from me how glorious this moment felt. I was free at last.

Tommy, my dear, darling Tommy looked as if he's been smacked upside the head with a board. But he quickly recovered from that and the anger I'd been expecting to see erupted in those brown eyes I love so much. "What do you mean I'm the father?" he asked, his voice hard as granite.

"I mean that the one night you and I spent together was enough. You, the only man I've ever slept with, are Amanda and Taylor's father."

"And you didn't tell me because? Oh, right, you were afraid." He laughed bitterly. "I'm not going to ask why you were afraid to tell me, what I did to make you think in anyway I would be angry at you because of this." He paused to take a deep breath and I cut in quickly.

"You didn't ever do anything." He started to interrupt but I help up a hand. "Please let me explain. You deserve to know." He nodded curtly and I continued. "Part of why I was afraid to tell you was just because of who you were. You were the White Ranger, the one Ranger that every force of Darkness would have loved to get their hands on. And the one Ranger that, more then the others, they would have used every power at their disposal to humble, to hurt, to make incapable of standing up to them. I didn't want our children, conceived in our love for each other, to be used against you. And you couldn't have guaranteed that they wouldn't be used that way, only I could by not telling you, by not bringing them home to Angel Grove."

"And what about when I wasn't a Ranger anymore? I don't completely agree with you on that point by the way but for now I'll take it, unless you want to elaborate more on it."

"Well, there was more to it then just the fact that you were a Ranger. There was also the fact that we were 17. You had your entire life ahead of you; I didn't want to be the one responsible for turning your dreams to ash. If you'd known I was pregnant you wouldn't be who you are today. And then what would have happened to Reefside?"

"We can't know that Kim. We can't know that we wouldn't have been here."

"But we can't know that we would have been. And you know they needed you. No other Ranger would have done as good a job with these kids as you did. No one else would have been able to take a group as dissimilar with no martial arts training and turn them into an elite fighting force in as short a time as you did."

"You still should have told me. But still, fine you didn't then. Why not later?" I could tell he was still pissed but he was making a valiant effort to at least try to understand my logic. And I had to admit to being impressed, the old Tommy would not have been quite this understanding.

"I was going to tell you. When Jase and I came back for our scuba diving trip I was going to tell you. But then there was that whole Murianthias thing. And to be honest, when you took your helmet off I knew I had to tell you. But then you were all over Kat and I couldn't. You were moving on and I had to let you go. It killed me to do it but I had to, you deserved so much more then I could offer you at that point."

"You had broken up with me." The defensiveness in his voice almost made me smile, but only almost.

"I know, believe me I know."

"Did you break up with me before or after you found out?" He sounded determined; as if he was going to get every iota of information out of me he could before he made any decisions.

"Before, just before but before."

"How much is just before?" Suspicion flavored every iota of his voice.

"A week."

"Surely you suspected? I mean it had been almost three months when you broke up with me."

"Not really. Remember, I was never regular. And once I started training it was worse then ever. And when I started getting really tired and dizzy I thought at first I was coming down with something. Two days after I sent the letter I spent the whole morning throwing up, and the morning after that. That's when I went to the team doctor."

"I see." There was silence for a bit while he digested what I'd already told him. I waited patiently, knowing he was going to ask more questions and determined to tell him everything he wanted to know. It might be to little to late, but it also might be what would allow him to move beyond this secret I'd kept for so long. Finally he spoke again. "So what about after I broke up with Kat, why didn't you tell me then?"

"Well first off I didn't find out that you'd broken up with her for a while. People don't talk about you to me so it took a bit before someone slipped up and mentioned it to me. Or maybe they told Jase and he told me, I forget exactly how it happened but somehow I found out. At the same time I found out that you were pursuing a doctorate degree. And as much as I wanted to I couldn't bring myself to tell you then. You had enough to worry about with pursing that degree; I couldn't add two kids to it. Nor could I in good conscience add two kids to your already strained budget. Graduate work is not cheap, I know this, and I didn't want to make it any harder for you then it already was. Nor did I want you to feel like you had to put it aside for the girls, you were doing something you really wanted to do, so I let you."

"And how would you feel if I told you I took up Paleontology because it made me feel closer to you? If I told you that I would have given all of that up in a heartbeat to have you back in my life?"

"I wouldn't change my decision. First off, I couldn't have known either of those things would be true. I truly thought you were pursuing a deep passion. And second off, that's what I didn't want you to do. Give up something as important as that for me."

"There is no reasoning with you is there? Fine. So after I got my Ph.D., why not then?"

"Because you disappeared. No one had the slightest clue where you were. And then I found out through sneaky and devious means that you were working with Dr. Anton Mercer on some hush hush project on some island God only knows where. So it was sort of not an option to tell you at that point. I had no way of getting a hold of you except through email and it wasn't something I wanted to say in an email. It was something I felt needed to be said face to face."

"How did you get my email?"

"Through devious and sneaky means."

"Through Billy" he concluded.

"Not through Billy. Billy's a former Ranger and former Rangers don't talk about you to me except Jason."  
"Well I know it wasn't Jason, he's technologically illiterate."

I laughed. "Ain't that the truth. And I'm not going to tell you how I got it so you might as well stop asking. I've decided to be completely honest with you but only about Amanda and Taylor."

"But doesn't this have to do with them and the reason for why you didn't tell me sooner that I have daughters."

"Not really, it just has to do with . . . fine yes it does but it's not important."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you tell me and let me judge that."

"Fine it was me."

"You?"

"Yeah, me. Billy taught me about computers and stuff and how to get into things. Particularly things people don't always want you to get into. Like the employment records at Mercer Industries."

"But how did you figure out I was working for Anton Mercer?"

"Google. You can find absolutely everything on Google, though you might have to dig a bit deeper then most people are willing to go."

"Fascinating. So you've learned to become a hacker. What other illicit skills have you picked up?"

"Nothing else illegal." I smiled at him, definitely a come hither smile, but while his eyes lit with interest he would not be deterred.

"Okay, so I accept that you couldn't get a hold of me on the island. That was the point of being on that island anyway. Why not after I got back?"

"Well, lets review that part shall we. There was the whole the island blew up bit. Yes, that was a bit of a problem because see the last anyone saw you you were on the island that blew up. So while Lightspeed Rescue was out there looking for you, along with about every other Ranger on the planet, all I knew was that you were missing and presumed dead. And that only because it was on the news. It certainly wasn't televised when you turned up alive. And none of our friends bothered to tell me or Jason for ages. And you didn't bother to call Jason and tell him yourself so we thought you were dead for ages."

"I didn't call Jason because he wasn't there so I figured he didn't care."

"You should have called."

"Why? So he could give me an excuse."

"It was a good one. I was in the hospital. He was alternating between being at the hospital with me, and taking care of my girls. He couldn't come. He wanted to, and it was killing both of us that he couldn't be there because I knew no one else would tell me whether you were dead or alive but he couldn't leave the girls at home alone."

"Why were you in the hospital?" He sounded positively panicked, not what I was expecting but nice nonetheless.

"I had pneumonia, a very severe case. They wanted me in the hospital so they could give me round the clock monitoring. Apparently cases that severe in adults are deadly about 50 of the time and they didn't want to take any chances."

"My God." Tommy looked grey and I didn't blame him. Here he'd been thinking all this time that his best friend had turned his back on him only to find out that he'd been taking care of me. If Tommy had found out that Jason had left me in the hospital, girls or no girls, to come look for him he would have ripped him a new one, and now the truth of this came out on top of everything else. Well, I probably would have looked grey too if it had been me. "How can I ever get him to forgive me for being such an idiot and thinking that he'd turned his back on me?"

"Just talk to him, he'll be okay, I promise. He knew what he was doing when he chose to stay in Florida. Just talk to him."

Tommy nodded and was quiet again for a long while. I got restless and started pacing the room while he sat there in shock. "What next?" he finally said, so quietly I had to ask him to repeat the question.

"You mean in the story of why it's taken me this long to tell you the truth?"

"Yeah."

"Well basically we found out you were alive when we heard that there were Rangers here in Reefside. We did some digging and found out that the high school had recently hired a new science teacher, a Dr. Tommy Oliver. I did some probably illegal digging again and discovered that it really was you. I almost called you right then and there but the Ranger thing stopped me. I knew you weren't one of the three but at the same time I knew you had to be involved somehow. And then the Black Ranger showed up and I knew it was you. Just seeing the footage I knew it was you. The style, the posturing, the taunting, it was all pure Tommy and I couldn't. For the same reason that I couldn't before. I couldn't put my girls into that type of danger."

"Having fought Mesogog, I'm glad you didn't. Even if he didn't think to use them Zeltrax would have. He had a personal grudge and he used everything he could to get to me. Not that it worked. Evil will never triumph. But I would have hated for innocents, particularly my own children, to be hurt in his quest to destroy me."

"But at the same time I knew you needed to know. It's like you said before, I knew it was right that I tell you. That's the real reason we moved to Reefside. So I could tell you about your daughters. So you could get to know your daughters."

"And what about their mother?" He looked completely serious. "Can I get to know their mother again?"

"Do you want to? Even after everything I've done to you, all the ways I've hurt you, everything I've kept from you?"

"Kim, I don't agree with all your reasons, but I can see why you did what you did. Just because I don't agree with them doesn't mean I don't see the logic behind them. All of them except the break-up, that is still a mystery to me." I started to speak but he shook his head and continued. "I know what you told me, but it's still not clear, but I don't care. It's in the past. Just like you not telling me about Amanda and Taylor is in the past. This is the present and we have our future to look forward to. I make no promises of any sort but I would like to at least get to know you again. 10 years is a long time to be apart from someone and a lot changes. I want to get to know who you are now, not the Kim I remember from high school."

"So, friends?" I stuck out my hand.

"Did I say friends?" He grabbed my hand but not to shake it, instead he used it to pull me into his body. "I don't think we can ever be just friends Beautiful." He lowered his head and lightly brushed his mouth over mine.

The second our mouths connected the passion that had always been between us flared to life. I don't know how he intended that kiss to go but within seconds we were devouring each other as if we hadn't tasted each other in, well 10 years. While our mouths fought for supremacy our hands raced over bodies that were unknown and yet familiar. We tumbled to the couch, Tommy on top, and if my phone hadn't chosen that moment to ring I think we might have gone so far as to christen my new couch right then and there.

But it did, my phone rang that is. Tommy was trying to get me to ignore it but I couldn't. As a mother I couldn't just let my phone ring, what if one of the girls needed me? So ignoring his pout I answered it. I was immediately glad I did so because once I hung up it gave me the opportunity to issue an invitation that would change all of our lives forever. "Would you like to come to dinner?"

"What?" Despite the several minute conversation Tommy was still having a hard time getting himself back together. The explosiveness of our passion had caught us both off guard and he hadn't had my years of practice at emotional control in just a few minutes.

"That was Taylor. She and Amanda want to invite Kira over for dinner tonight. I was thinking you might come to. We could tell the girls that you're their dad."

"Tonight?" He obviously wasn't expecting things to move quite this fast.

"Sure, why not."

"Well, don't you think you ought to lead them gently into it?"

"No, they know we came to Reefside to tell their dad. They've been waiting rather impatiently since we got here for me to tell you. I had to make it a rule that they could only ask once a day because otherwise it was all Jason and I would hear."

"Oh." Now he looked a little faint.

"Unless you don't want to." I was disappointed but tried to hide it. "I know you just found out. You probably want time before you tell them."

"No, we'll do it tonight."  
"Are you sure? Because once you do this there is no turning back. If you do this you are in their lives for good and I won't let you hurt my girls."

He smiled at me, pale but determined. "I'm sure Beautiful. And they aren't your girls anymore. They are our girls."

"Okay then. Let's do this."

The End

A/N: Okay so the end turned out differently from what I'd first imagined but I like it. I know I didn't put in him meeting his daughters but I didn't think I could do it justice. If the muse strikes the right way it might get added as an epilogue or posted as a sequel at some point. But for now this is it.

A/N2: So the muse has decided to make an appearance and sadly it isn't in regards to my thesis which would be helpful but it will make ya'll happy. I'm currently working on a sequel to this in which you get to see Tommy meet the girls. If all goes well I'm hoping to have the first chapter up next monday. Crosses fingers We shall see what we shall see.


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